At Nintendo, we think deeply about everything.
'First to market' is simply a demarcation on a calendar. It really doesn't mean anything.
I think Nintendo is fortunate, having been in this business for over 30 years, to really understand the dynamics and recognize that it's software that drives hardware, and it's new, unique, compelling experiences within software that make it stand out.
The fact is, there's no single magic number that defines profitability for a game.
'Super Mario Maker' clearly is going to drive hardware. There are consumers who have always wanted to make their levels of Mario games. So that game will really speak to those consumers.
I get asked constantly, what's Nintendo's approach to the esports community. And our approach is we want to enable consistent standards. We want to enable an approach to the competition that's fair, that's balanced, that enables the players to showcase their skills.
We believe that there are a number of Nintendo titles that could do exceptionally well in the competitive play space.
When the DS was first announced, our focus really was on communicating to consumers and to developers the innovation that's in that unit: two screens, a touch screen, voice activation.
Look at how many times we've improved on the Game Boy Advance in terms of the look, the feel, screen changes, and everything else. We believe that type of constant innovation is critical to driving this industry, and certainly if you look at the world wide sales of Game Boy Advance, I don't think anyone would disagree.
Nintendo has an enviable position of having the best franchises in this industry in terms of 'Mario' and 'Zelda' and 'Metroid' and 'Donkey Kong' and all of those great franchises. Together, those are a library that any developer would kill for.
'1-2 Switch' is a party in a box.
In the end, I don't mind how you interact with our IP as long as you're interacting with it every day.
When we launched the Wii - I mean, again, people look back and say, '100 million units, it was easy!' Believe me, I was there, and it wasn't easy at all. We had tough conversations, internal debate, like, 'How are we going to do this? How are we going to bring it to life? What are we going to do?'
I would say that 'Breath of the Wild' is a dramatic departure from the conventions of a 'Zelda' game.
Our developers are constantly thinking about, 'How do I bring new and novel experiences to our platforms?' whether it's the Switch, 3DS, or even a smart device. So that is just part of the way our developers think.
We are so fortunate that our IP has been so effective out in the marketplace that every time there's a new iteration, our developers feel a sense of pressure.
One of the things that, on one hand, I love and, on the other hand, that troubles me tremendously about not only our fanbase but about the gaming community at large is that, whenever you share information, the perspective is, 'Thank you, but I want more.' 'Thank you, but give me more.' I mean, it is insatiable.
I love playing our content. Except for 'Smash Brothers.'
I really suck at 'Smash Brothers.'
I would say the greatest challenge we had with the Wii U was being crystal clear in our communication of what the product was and what the product could do.
